Monday, August 2, 2010

Cupcakes + Feedback

Hello, sweeties! Let's talk about cupcakes! I follow a few blogs created by lovely ladies who are passionate about the way they bake cupcakes. Erica, for example, runs a sassy business called Dollface Delights and posts lots of luscious photos on her blog. Another adorable blogger is Jessy, whose blog contains an abundance of cupcakes and other eye candy. But it's not just real cupcakes I crave. I have to admit that I am a full-on cupcake addict. It's true, I got in on the craze.

Over the years, I've sold many cupcake necklaces in my etsy shop among other venues. But it's something I never get tired of. I'm always inspired by these bits of sweet, fluffy goodness! These are the newest cupcakes I've cooked up.

Now for some feedback! I would love to hear your opinions on an issue if you've got a minute. I'm wondering if it is a good thing to post photos of items being worn or held in my hand to demonstrate size. I know there are customers (like myself) who like to have an idea of how wearable items will look, and it helps to have something in the photo for size comparison. But I don't want to put anyone off, and I know some people get a little freaked out when they see skin in photos of jewelry. Here are a few photos to illustrate my point.

I took this photo of a cupcake necklace in my hand to show how dainty they are. Do you think it would bother anyone to see my thumb in the photo?

When I made the tiny cupcake earrings in the photos above, I made an extra pair for myself. I am keeping the ones I'm wearing in the photo, and whoever purchases the earrings in the listing will receive an unworn pair. But still, do you think people will be grossed out by seeing a somewhat close-up shot of my messy hair and neon eyeshadow?

Just for fun, what is your opinion on purchasing an item that has actually been worn by a model? What would you be okay with and what would totally freak you out? Jewelry? Hats? Clothing? Shoes? Where do you draw the line? I'll weigh in on this in a while (see comments), but I want to hear you out first!

31 comments:

Thanks for linking to my blog Holly! I think I've told you many a time before that I love your cupcake jewellery, but I'll tell you again, I LOVE THEM!I don't think people would mind photos of you, or your thumb in them, add a personal touch I think. And besides, I love your eye-shadow too!

Cupcakes really have turned into a craze havent they! I love making cupcakes, so much fun to decorate them.Hrmm about your question, I wouldnt buy earrings that had been worn but would buy a necklace or ring or clothes which has been put on just to model the items.In regards to showing the size, I would probably display the necklace next to something everyone knows the size of, maybe a coin or next to a real cupcake. But the photo of you wearing the earrings looks good I think.

Cupcakes! Can't get enough of them, now, can we? ..and um no, I love your eye shadows actually.I don't mind wearing clothes or shoes or accessories worn by models for usually a short time for photos or runways. Though I prefer not to put on lingerie and earrings/pierced items (considering the models might not recovered well enough from the piercings)

Great topic! As for myself, I do wear most of my creations at least once, even if they may not be my 'style' and I do so for 'quality control'. It's important to me to make sure the piece lays correctly, doesn't snag clothes or pinch my skin and for me, the only way to find that out is to wear it for a few hours! When I explain it to customers that way, it seems much appreciated :) As for you in the photos, I personally LOVE to see work on a person! In fact, one of these days when I'm better about online shops, I want to have photos of the goods on a person among the other photos!

In my experience there are more people who want to see what it looks like being worn than there are people who are put off by it. I would suggest, however, that for the earrings you make a note in your listing about how the buyer will receive an unworn pair (the pair in the photo is a sample) or something similar.

I don't think the ones of you holding them are bad either, but it might be even cooler to take photos with them next to standard size cupcakes and that could be your comparison. :) I think that would be cool.

I'd say that adding a photo to the listing for size reference would be a good idea, but as I know a lot of people aren't too keen on worn items, I'd just add the pic of the worn earrings, necklace, etc and add in the listing that it's shown there just for size reference and that they're a sample.

I think that there are more people that would like to see something on a model to get an idea of how things wear, than there are people who would be icked out by it. Maybe just mention in the listing that the item they will receive has not been worn (at least/esp for earrings).

I debated about the same thing for a while with the scarves I've been making.. but I just think the photos look SO much better on a real person.

Great feedback, ladies! This has helped me so much! Now for my 2 cents.

I would not wear earrings that had been worn by another person. I know I could sanitize them, but the fact that they had been INSIDE another piercing would really gross me out. Other jewelry such as necklaces, rings, and bracelets would not be a problem though.

Clothing worn by another person would not bother me, because I wash my clothes before wearing them anyway.

Hats and hair accessories are a borderline situation for me. If the model has really clean, pretty hair, it might not be an issue. However, I've worked in an elementary school where lice was a big deal. So I tend to be a little grossed out by things that have been in someone else's hair.

I agree that mannequins are a safe bet. But they're expensive, they can sometimes look tacky depending on they style, and if they are not size proportionate to an actual human head then it could give the wrong idea regarding size.

Keep those opinions coming! I've already gained so much insight from your comments.

I personally wouldn't be offended or grossed out, but I think if you definitely want to play it safe, I would think rings, necklaces, bracelets would all be completely fine, but perhaps earrings are a grey area for some people.

Okay I have two opinions. I think even though you are showing how little the cupcakes are in the thumb photo, it's still cropped up so closely that it's still kinda hard to get an honest perspective. Maybe back that part up a bit, and allow a little more of your hand in the photo... or hold your hand outward toward your pretty back yard or someplace for a background, and then take the picture... at a bit of a distance... know what I mean? ♥

and then, the next picture, I totally love! I know what you're saying about people being offended by skin, but in the case of that picture of you with the blue top and the blue hair pin, and the blue earrings and the whole bit, is totally cute, and I think it just adds to your brand. It's totally you, and I love it! :D

Okay I just read some of the other comments, and wanted to add that if you're thinking about for photo purposes from here on out... You could do a few fun shots of yourself all dolled up in different colors that fit a *few* of your lines... that way people get a catalog style view of what you sell... but maybe don't match the pictures to the items that are listed so they don't associate what you are wearing in the picture with what they are buying... just that the get a general sense of the type of market you are projecting to, and the sense of... well... branding. am I making any sense here? LOL!♥

i think you should make it a rule to not wear the merchandise. i would put in a disclaimer of some sort, that the photos are for example, and the customer will receive earrings/pins/etc of their very own. but i'd probably buy a necklace off ya at a craft fair!

i once wore of my pieces that was for sale and a friend said, 'must be nice - wear it, then sell it.' i took it down & i don't anymore, and make ones for me :)

but a lot of my work is from resale and vintage, so it's been worn before anyway....so i dunno.when i thrift or buy vintage clothes, though, i draw the line at undergarments and swimsuits - no way!

I think it's good to be able to gauge from photos how big/small the item (not just jewellery) is. It would be pretty troublesome to actually have to take out a measuring tape to check the dimension given. Okay, I admit I'm the lazy kind. Therefore I wouldn't mind seeing a model posing in one of those jewellery. I don't mind buying those worn by models (of course not the earrings) but all items should 'look' new. It'll be even better if the model is styled according to the theme of the listed item. I think the eyeshadow color looked pretty cool with your cupcakes earrings. :)

Hmmm....I personally like the ones of just the jewelry. The peices really 'pop' and you can see the detail better. You might lay them near something else in the photo to give the viewer a sense of the scale. I dont mind shots of necklaces on real people but the thought of used ear rings is kinda icky, hehehe. If you do have photos of worn jewelry, you could specify that each piece is made to order and unused. I've seen that done as well. But these are way cute!

I don't mind seeing necklaces on sellers necks or a similar earring (other than the one being sold) on a model within an etsy listing.

I prefer to see some kind of reference to scale, because on etsy I've bought numerous things where I thought they'd be smaller. Everyone's idea of size differs, so it's definitely something to take into account.

I mean, I guess most of the item I buy on Etsy have been worn to model, but I don't really think about it. As many people have said, maybe earrings would be different, but I sterilize them when I get them anyway, so...it really wouldn't matter to me!!

What I think you should do is come to the make:Tulsa photo party with some sample jewelry and have photos taken with a model. You could pick out a couple and make it your standard image that you include as the last photo in all your listings. You could even add some text to the photo expressing that it's a sample so there is no room for misinterpretation, but that might even be excessive as I think if someone is going through your shop they'll see the same last photo on all your cupcake earing listings and would hopefully figure out that that isn't the pair they're getting. If someone was modeling the pair of earrings I was actually buying I probably just wouldn't buy them because that is kind of gross and I don't know where their nasty lobes have been!!!! Hahahahaha ;) Keep on rockin' Holly!